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1995–96 St. Louis Blues season
The 1995–96 St. Louis Blues season was the 39th in franchise history. The Blues moved to a new facility, the Kiel Center, and hired Mike Keenan as coach and general manager. The hard nosed Keenan rubbed many Blues players the wrong way, but brought a tough, winning style of play. One of Keenan's first moves was trading Brendan Shanahan to the Hartford Whalers for Chris Pronger. With Brett Hull in Keenan's dog house, the general manager made a bold move by acquiring Wayne Gretzky for the 1995–96 stretch run, reuniting him with former Oilers such as Glenn Anderson, Charlie Huddy, Craig MacTavish, Grant Fuhr, Igor Kravchuk, Shayne Corson and others. The 'Great One' couldn't do a whole lot during his limited time in St. Louis once goalie Grant Fuhr was hurt in the final game of the regular season. The Blues defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Western Conference Quarter-finals. It would be the last playoff series ever played at Maple Leaf Gardens. In the Western Conference Semi-finals, the Blues played the President's Trophy winners, the Detroit Red Wings. Offseason Regular season Wayne Gretzky trade On February 27, the St. Louis Blues acquired Wayne Gretzky from the Los Angeles Kings for Craig Johnson, Patrice Tardif, Roman Vopat and draft picks.Wayne Gretzky's hockey statistics profile at hockeydb.com In 18 regular season games with the Blues, Gretzky notched 21 points as the Blues qualified for the playoffs for the 17th straight season with a record of 32–34–16. He scored 37 points in 31 games for the team in both the regular season and the playoffs, and the Blues came within one overtime game of the Conference finals. He also served as the team's captain in his short tenure with the Blues. despite reuniting with former Edmonton Oilers teammates Glenn Anderson, Grant Fuhr, and Craig Mactivish, who Gretzky has not played with since the 1988 Stanley Cup win, he never clicked with the team or with his new right-winger, “The Golden Brett” Hull, on the ice as well as many had expected. On July 12, he signed with the New York Rangers as a free agent, rejoining longtime Oilers teammate Mark Messier. Final standings Game log Playoffs In the playoffs Gretzky would provide a spark as the Blues overcame an injury to goalie Grant Fuhr in Game 1 to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in 6 games. Backup goalie Jon Casey continued to keep the Blues hopes alive as they jumped out to a 3–2 series lead against the Detroit Red Wings. However, the Wings would rally and win the series in double overtime in Game 7 on Steve Yzerman's goal. Player stats Regular season ;Scoring ;Goaltending Playoffs ;Scoring ;Goaltending Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage; Roster Transactions *July 28, 1995 - Doug Lidster was traded by the St. Louis Blues to the New York Rangers in exchange for Jay Wells. Draft picks The 1995 NHL Entry Draft was held at the Edmonton Coliseum in Edmonton, Canada. The drafting order was now set partially by a lottery system whereby teams would not be guaranteed first pick if they finished last. External links * Blues on Hockey Database * Hickok Sports * The National Hockey League Web Site * Official website of the St. Louis Blues St. Louis Blues season, 1995–96 St. Louis Blues season, 1995–96 Category:St. Louis Blues seasons